Checked Bud's and to my surprise, it's increased about $50, from $238 to $288. That also dropped it off of Bud's Top 100 sellers list.

Have I missed some news about it? I hope demand has increased, instead of supply drying up....

Quote from: sawatis on July 28, 2018, 08:12:55 PM
Don't know about the karr mags, but the glock 43 springs I got from Ghost Inc.  (3 for $7.95). Work very well. I clip off the bottom coil...it has a bit of a hook and is the 14th coil...the new factory ones Rem sent me had13.  The new mags they sent me also  had exactly parallel lips ....to the thousandth.
John

Hello,
I'm trying your suggestion with the Ghost Inc. Glock 43 magazine springs. Much appreciated! Having difficulties with the Ghost Inc. online ordering system, but will straighten that out with them, unless you know the secret handshake and can share it with me, lol.

Like many others, my R51 is a gun I want to like. I own an original Remington 51 in .380, and hoped to make the new R51 my EDC pistol. Unfortunately, my 90-year-old pistol works better than my 1-year-old gun!

I've put 750+ rounds through the gun, and still suffer nosedivesand various feeding problems. For the first time in 50 years of shooting, I experienced a phenomenon I never even imagined: the fired round ejected, the top round in the mag ejected, and the next round fed correctly and fired! How is that even possible? And it happened twice in that same magazine of ammunition, no less.

Sent it in for warranty service with 5 mags, including the two new ones Remington sent me loose, wrapped, in a mailer envelope. #5 was a spare I'd purchased. Got everything back from their contracted repair shop in Huntsville, with the notation that the pistol and mags had been "adjusted" and now functioned as designed.

Well, it still doesn't, and unfortunately I have no idea what supposed adjustments were carried out.

The thing I really don't understand is this: it is axiomatic that the magazine or belt is the #1 cause of feeding problems in semi-automatic and automatic weapons. So...why on earth would Remington field a magazine with so many problems? Bad welds in mag body, weak floorplate, weak and poorly installed springs, incorrect stacking geometry of the springs within the mag body. incorrectly designed follower, the infamously problematic bent lip, improper taper of the feed lips.

Maybe I'm missing something, but this accounts for every single part of the magazine assembly, some more than once!!

Any more advice is welcome. I've got about 12-15 videos pulled up on YouTube for study and analysis. Yes, time I'd prefer to spend doing more productive things than struggling to overcome design and manufacturing flaws. As others have noted already, this pistol is not reliable enough to carry, nor to sell, so it sits "awaiting repair." By me. Remington had three tries already: manufacture, 2 new mags for free, and a trip to their repair center.

Final gripe: the gun surprised me with its bulky dimensions. A little online research seems to verify what my eyes tell me: apparently it was designed to accommodate eventual .40 and .45 versions.

Very new to this forum, but found it as I was hunting answers to the exact same problems y'all have been addressing.

Let me express my appreciation right now for the issues and solutions you all provided. I'm in the process of improving my gun from "has limitations" to "excellent." Getting close, but hungry for it to be CCW-level reliable.

Am hoping to get the new part number magazines from Remington.

Blackie,
No sweat, G.I., I didn't write that too clearly. I graded Military Academy cadets for 6 years and would have gigged 'em for "ambiguity/unclear antecedent" if they wrote what I did! Oh well, guess I owe 'em 10 push-ups!

PS: I'll only pay up if one of my old cadets calls me on it in this thread!

PPS: will give my latest R51 update later today. Running MUCH better, but still not right. Based on other posts I've read on this forum, I requested Remington to supply me replacement magazines with the new part number. Did it only last night, though, so have to give them some reaction time.

How much spring did you clip off?

Zenshot, did you also remove 1/16" or 3/16" from the bottoms of your mag followers? Or simply leave them loaded and used the Uplula?

Old shooter, rookie at this forum. Glad y'all are here, because I've got the exact same problems.

Finding posts on this forum indicating the new mags have a DIFFERENT PART NUMBER is a huge red flag that Remington goofed, figured it out and fixed it, but stealthily took a "buyer beware" approach to buyers who took them at their word that the Gen 1 problems were fixed.

Why not send out replacement mags to owners and handle this the right way? Embarrassing, surely, but better to admit it openly and fix it gracefully.

I wrote Rem CS asking for 3 replacement mags (I'd bought a third one), and hope to get the "good stuff" this time.

In the meantime, I should remove about 3/16" from the bottoms of my mag followers to get proper use out of them?

Got a set of wooden grips from Keefersgrips, per Dutch's advice, and they fit, look, and feel great! Gun definitely sits more naturally and comfortably in my hand. Have yet to range-test it, though, so will report back.

Did have a second brief range session in the meantime, though, using OEM grips and same ammo as before: WWB ball and JHP. Plus a friend tossed in a few mags worth of some miscellaneous ammo he had on hand.

Things went MUCH smoother, although I still encountered one nose-dive of 2nd round and a couple of weird loading experiences.

First couple of times I inserted the mag with the slide in battery. It gave me some trouble locking the mag into place, and resisted first 2-3 attempts to chamber a round by racking the slide. I struggled to pull the slide back, released it, and the top cartridge in the mag was not chambered. Had to struggle to get the slide back another 1/2" or so, and then it picked up the round and fed it.

I went back to inserting the mag with slide locked back and hitting slide release, and things went fine. I also "slingshotted" the slide a couple of times to release it, but that went less smoothly & not as positively.

Those were the only problems in about 100 rounds, though, which was highly encouraging.

Before my initial range session, I'd sprayed the brand-new gun with action cleaner, wiped and brushed it, lubed, and went shooting with the poor results I described in an earlier post.

Prior to this second session, I had sprayed the entire gun with Ballistol, let it soak 2-3 days, then toothbrushed and wiped thoroughly with a rag, and relubed with Ballistol.

Afterwards, I cleaned it thoroughly with Ballistol and then relubed very carefully with Lubrikit grease, ensuring I got any spots on slide and frame that were showing any wear. Have left it with slide locked back and all 3 mags fully loaded for a few days, and before long will take it out and try it again. This time, however, I'll use some Winchester NATO spec ball ammo, to see if its higher pressures will run the gun more positively.

So, I've fiddled with five variables at once: recoil spring left compressed; mag springs left compressed; mags disassembled, cleaned and lubed; and grease instead of oil used as lubricant. Variable 5 will be the higher-pressure ammo. I know that violates the ol' scientific method, but I'm trying to crash through the gun's likely problems all at once if I can.

Next time out, I'll have mags marked and log any problems with each one. If it seems to run like a top with the NATO 124g ball, as I'm hoping, then I'll try some Remington UMC FMJ 115g, some Rem 115g +P 115g HTP JHPs, and the WWB 115g JHPs.

So, I'll have a lot to report on next time. I'm bound and determined to make this gun reliable for EDC, and hope it's about ready. We'll see.

PS: gun shot more comfortably this time, which means my initial problems with feeling pounded by it were actually caused by the other guns I'd fired before getting to it.

Hi DUTCH,
Just ordered a nice-looking set of grips from his eBay site, and will run 100-200 rounds of WWB 9mm NATO 124g through the gun after I mount the new grips. Will finish cleaning it and inspecting for rough spots or burrs between now and then.

Will write up another range report after that next session. If I'm still suffering nose dives into the feed ramp and roughness & hesitation going into battery after that, then I'll check back for "best practices" on magazine modifications, make them, and try again.

As I understand it now, magazines mods are twofold: slightly bend out the front, top edge between the feed lips; remove 3/16" from the bottom of the magazine follower. Sounds like that should make a lot of room for the 7+1 configuration and reduce the spring pressure in the magazine. If that's necessary, sounds like Remington should redesign the mag follower and send free to all owners.

Anyway, I'm bound and determined :-)

Thanks, Dutch, I'll look those up.

I'd thought about the shooting gloves, and may yet do it for practice. My only concern about that solution is that they would make practice sessions much better, but still not train my bare hand to grip the gun firmly and effectively in an SD situation, using muscle memory.

And since I'm a big believer in Fairbairn, Sykes, Applegate point shooting, the instinctive grip and body alignment are simply crucial.

Thanks for the eBay link, which I'll check right now. I'll check Pachmayr to see if by any chance they are going to offer a solution. I value the gun's slimness very highly, but can't afford that at the cost of destabilizing my instinctive grip altogether.

Nonetheless, I'm bound and determined to make this work, if practice, experimentation, and mule-headed stubbornness will do the trick  :-))) I am such a fan of the original design that I will do my darndest to find a good solution for the new R51.

Thanks to all, and additional input & insights welcome.
My plan:
1. Manually cycle a gazillion more times.
2. Strip, clean, inspect for wear spots, burrs, etc., and lube.
3. Run a couple boxes of Win milspec 124g ammo through the gun to see if the extra power will help push the cycling system throuh its paces.
4. Assess, then see if magazines need some work. Before I file or dremel away any material, I'll check back to ensure I understand the procedures.

Any thoughts on why the gun is pounding my hand so badly? The original Rem 51 .380 fits, points & shoots beautifully. The new R51 is supposed to have thise same characteristics, and a number of reviewers confirm it, but others are suffering a pounding like I am. Wonder why it seems to be feast or famine? I've shot a LOT of pistols, and although I suffered some type of discomfort with a number of them due to various reasons, the pounding delivered by the R51 seemed unique. I need to study my grip to see if the grip is too small and I need to beef it up somehow.

Hello to all,

Bottom line up front: first range session was quite rocky, but I plan to overcome the problems and make the R51 my EDC once I smooth them out.

I am a fan of its predecessor, the Remington 51 in .380, which I have used very often for carry. It is indeed a point & shoot dream!

My goals with the R51, however, are to upgrade caliber, cheapen ammo costs, and then depend on modern engineering and metallurgy to give me a dependable, quick-pointing gun that I don't mind riding hard. I won't abuse it, and the internals will always be well-maintained, but in this heat and humidity I want a good shooter for EDC, not a safe queen.

So, first range session impressions from Monday, 7 August 17, firing approximately 125 rounds WWB FMJ and 50 WWB JHP.

1. Gun is currently unreliable for EDC, but none of the malfunctions were serious mechanical issues that can't be smoothed out with use and care. As you'll note, no problem I encountered was new to members of this forum. (I've already gotten some good ideas to try out.)

2. Summary of Problems
  a. FTF, bullet nosedived into base of feed ramp about 12-15 times, often occurring with the second round in the magazine. Sometimes, slide went into battery after hesitation, before I could take immediate action. Others occurred, but then chambered after a brief hesitation, before I could even react. Others, I chambered the round simply by bumping the rear of the slide as basic immediate action drill. Others required magazine removal and remedial action.

  b. Commonly, removal of a loaded mag displayed the next cartridge halfway out of the magazine, as though it were carried there by design.

  c. Several times, fired cases extracted, didn't eject, and were poised or wedged atop a partially chambered live round. Remedial action was to snap gun to the right, tossing out the empty, then bumping the slide or trying to manually retract it and release it to go into battery. Sometimes, neither method worked and I had to remove the magazine to sort it out.

  d. Commonly could not chamber top round in magazine from open chamber position, by "sling-shotting" the slide. Typically, depressing the slide release lever fed the round into battery just fine.

   e. Very inconsistent results when chambering one round, topping off mag, and re-inserting it, i.e. making it 7+1. Commonly, the magazine would not seat fully, or only after a struggle.

    f. Last but not least, this gun beat my firing hand half to pieces. I seemed to have a problem with the back of the grip frame creeping out of the web between thumb and forefinger--if I continued the shot string instead of re-setting my grip on the gun, it affected POA and pounded the base of my thumb. I'm a lifelong shooter--not mistake-free, but I rarely encounter much of this. I don't experience it at all with my original Remington 51. Firing 125 rounds from two .357 revolvers was far less taxing than firing this 9mm for 175-ish.

3. Good points: accuracy was fine for close-range defensive purposes, but the number and variety of malfunctions prevented me moving the target beyond the 10 yard mark. This gun's sole purpose is EDC, and there's little point in practicing long-range shooting if functioning is a problem.

4. I cleaned the gun thoroughly to remove preservatives, and lubricated the gun freely, but reasonably. I've been shooting 45 years, and that's how I typically break in a new gun. No previous problems like this.

I plan to break it down for cleaning and lube, and will inspect it for signs of wear that indicate "break-in period is necessary." I'll also work on mags by depressing each follower and spring numerous times with a handy implement. Will also leave mags fully-loaded until next range trip.

I'll look CLOSELY to see if there is any mismatch between the barrel and the feed ramp.

Will try to find hotter ammo of similar bullet shape to see if that runs well, or at least will speed the break-in process. But I expect it to run on WWB, once broken-in.

Ideas about a Hogue Handall or other means of firming up my grip? (And cushioning it.)

Any big issues about lube, i.e. wet or dry?

Other known problem areas?

I'm open to suggestion, and I plan to get this gun functioning as designed. In 24 years active-duty Army, I had to carry the standard weapons issued me, and they all worked. And I'm fine with adapting to the gun if necessary, and never had any particular problems.

Hello to all.

I'm new to the R51 (one range session) and a long-time user of the Remington 51 in .380.

Hope to use the R51 as my EDC. I look forward to further reading in this forum, as well as contributing to the base off knowledge and experience you're building here.

So long, from Baton Rouge!

Dana
aka LouisianaMan
LTC, USA (Ret.)